Modern day Lebanese people's true ancestors?

Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum and thus, I hope that I am posting in the right section: forgive me if I am not.

I am Lebanese, from the north of Lebanon (Tripoli). All my life, I have been taught that ethnically, I was "Arab". However, when I look at Saudis, or Egyptians, or Yemenis, or even Iraqis, I see that I have nothing in common with them, physically.

Physically, I have moderate pale white skin, but with very dark straight hair, and hazel eyes. I always wondered who my true ancestors were, as I know that I probably do not have 100% "Arab" blood. That is why many Lebanese do not consider themselves as Arabs... I am one of them. I know that many empires have ruled this land, so I wanted to ask people on this forum: who are the true ancestors of the modern day Lebanese? Are the modern day Lebanese people predominately Arab ethnically, or something else?

Thank you

Your username shows that you know about your ancestors, namely Phoenician. Of course they were also a Semitic people, so culturally there could be no big difference between them and modern Arabs, especially those Arabs who already in Lebanon and northwest Syria.

The numbers involved in the Arab conquests were pretty small, so they didn't change the ethnic makeup all that much.  Some say the Arabic language took hold so quickly because it is so similar to Aramaic, spoken in Lebanon at the time.